Tag Archives: coast guard

When I was four years old we went to visit my grandparents at their
place on Deer Lake. My grandmother taught me to fish for perch with corn kernels on egg hooks. My father carried me, sleeping, off the dock after dark and the next morning I couldn’t wait to do it again.

That is when the addiction took me.

I grew up on the shores of Hood Canal where I was the captain of an old 12 foot riveted aluminum row-boat. From this rig I learned to fish Rockfish, Salmon, Cutthroat and Crab. More importantly I learned about tide, current and rudimentary navigation. At eleven my Grandfather took me Salmon fishing at Westport on his charter boat and the world opened up for me. I started deckhanding for charters when I was fourteen and worked most of every summer through high school on one boat or another. I absolutely loved the experience of running in the ocean, playing with the passengers and catching loads of fish. I knew then that this was what I wanted to do. In the thirty years since nearly everything I have done has been focused on achieving this goal.

I toured the world in the Navy for a few years. Spent 8 years in Colorado where I learned to enjoy trout fishing and dabbled in fly fishing a bit. But I was caught by the lure of the sea. Landlocked Colorado was a nice place to live but I had to get back to the salt.

I returned to the Puget Sound in 1996 and immediately bought a boat and started following around people who know what they are doing. I learned how to fish Blackmouth and other species from some of the best captains in the Puget Sound area. I have spent the last fifteen years fishing all around the Pacific Northwest learning fisheries from South Sound Blackmouth to Offshore Tuna.

Today I am at the end of a long career in the aviation industry. This career has allowed me to invest a lot of time, and no small amount of money, into learning the fisheries I hope to share with you. I earned my Coast Guard license #150511 and my first year ran a limited number of tuna, halibut and salmon charters around my work schedule and while the plan was to retire this year and charter full-time, I found it was a better choice for my family to continue working till the boats are paid off and hire my friends to help run the boat while I work. I will put my team including, Captains Brian and Patrick, up against any in the business. We produce as well as any and have more fun guaranteed.

I really enjoy learning new techniques and adopting them into the way I do things. I still attend several seminars each year from the people I respect in the business. If you see me say hi, I’m always up to talk about fishing.

Fishing is fun for me and as with anything fun it is better when shared.